There’s some question about how popular the original Samsung Galaxy Gear smartwatch ended up being, but in any case Samsung announced an update for the Gear that will bring it up to par with the Gear 2 (at least as far as software is concerned).

Both devices now have the same user experience. The optional Tizen OS update will primarily give users access to twice the apps as before (140)--which isn’t saying all that much, as we discovered with the Gear 2.

Gear 2

Still, the Gear does get some nice updates. You can now store and directly play back music from the device, and Samsung’s S Health is now on board. There are several new UI options, as well, including fonts and homescreen options.

This update to Tizen OS does make the Gear more similar to the Gear 2, but then again, we found the Gear 2 to be only modestly compelling. With the Android Wear version of a Samsung smartwatch coming, you may be better off skipping both the Gear and Gear 2.